During the removal, servicing, replacement or repair of the valves and other equipment associated with an oil or gas well wellhead array, it is necessary to close off the passage through which the oil or gas comes out of the well and thus through this array. There are available several plugs and valves which can be installed in that part of the wellhead which is the final termination of the well with the wellhead array. The installation of this plug or valve, which shall hereinafter be called the back-pressure plug or be shortened to BPP, is generally done with the well under pressure, and with wellhead equipment such as the master valve, spools and blowout preventer on the well. The tools generally in use to install and remove this back-pressure plug will be referred to as back-pressure plug tools, or BPPTs.
The back-pressure plug tools generally in use are adequate to install and extract the back-pressure plug, however, they rely on the "feel" of the operator to tell if the plug is engaging the threads during installation and has turned in all the way. Also, due to their construction, high pressures encountered in many wells cause the back-pressure plug tool packing systems to tighten up and make them difficult to operate. The back-pressure plug tool of the present invention has a visual indicator which will show that the back-pressure plug is seated in the threads and has turned in all the way and will also give the operator the "feel" of the plug seating and breaking out regardless of pressure on the well. Movement in and out of the well is by hydraulic means for ease of operation.